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Catholic Meditation - Second Sunday of Lent - Year B

Martin Jumbam

Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, February 25, 2018, as the Second Sunday of Lent – Year B. In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “Remember your mercies, Lord, your tenderness from ages past. Do not let our enemies triumph over us; O God, deliver Israel from her distress. Amen.”

In the first reading, Abraham is presented to us as the Father of all believers. He is an example of obedience to God who commands him to leave his country, family and society to go to an unknown land. To cap it all, God even asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, to him and, unquestioningly, Abraham obeys and finds favour with his God. In the second reading, Saint Paul tells the Romans that God did not spare his only Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. God empties himself and gives himself for our sake and we, on our part, must put our trust in him, for Christ is our Mediator and Savior. In the Gospel, Saint Mark shows us the transfigured Christ who is assured of his Father’s love when the Father tells the overwhelmed Apostles Peter, James and John, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; listen to him. We pray during this Holy Mass for the grace of unconditional obedience to God so that he will also say of us that we are his beloved children in whom he is well pleased.

First Reading: Genesis 22:1-18.

God put Abraham to the test. “Abraham, Abraham he called”. “Here I am he replied”. “Take your son, God said your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you”. When they arrived at the place God had pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood. Then he stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. “Abraham, Abraham he said”. “I am here” he replied. “Do not raise your hand against the boy” the angel said. “Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son”. Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt‑offering in place of his son. The angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven. “I swear by my own self – it is the Lord who speaks – because you have done this, because you have not refused me your son, your only son, I will shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession of the gates of their enemies. All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience”.

V/ The word of the Lord.

R/ Thanks be to God.

Comment

Genesis deals with the origins of the world and of the Jewish people; In it, God is pre-existent to the creation of the world. He creates man and woman in his own image and likeness and makes them his collaborators and partners in safeguarding and developing his creation. However, man's partnership with God is broken by sin.

In the passage selected for our meditation this day, we see that God has been true to his promise to Abraham. Although he and his wife Sarah are already very old people, God still gives them a son, Isaac. Just when Abraham is beginning to appreciate this unexpected gift, God then asks him to sacrifice Isaac to him in recognition that the boy belongs to God. This does not make sense but Abraham does not argue with God, he simply obeys. By agreeing to sacrifice his only son to God, Abraham, the Father of our faith, is likened to God the Father himself who will not spare his own Son Jesus Christ but will deliver him up for us all.

By undergoing the test, which God gives him, Abraham attains perfection and can therefore be called a friend of God (Jas 2:21). The sacrifice of Isaac has similar features to the redemptive sacrifice of Christ himself. As Saint Paul says of God’s sacrifice of his own Son: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?” (Rom 8:32). There is a father giving up his son and the son in turn rendering himself without protest to his father’s will. Through Abraham’s obedience and Isaac’s non-resistance, God’s blessing will reach all the nations of the earth when he allows Jesus to die as a sacrifice on behalf of all mankind. Let us pray for the grace to discern God’s will from that of the Evil One and to obey our Father’s will to the end. Amen.

Second Reading: Romans 8: 31-34.

With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us.

V/ The word of the Lord.

R/ Thanks be to God.

Comment

Saint Paul is said to have written his letter to the Romans from the city of Corinth in the early months of the year 85. It is Paul’s longest and is also considered as his most important letter. It deals extensively with the key aspects of the teaching and redemptive work of Christ. Saint Paul was planning an apostolic journey to Spain and wanted to make an extensive stay in Rome where a considerable number of Christians were already established.

He is thrilled at the prospect of Rome, which is the center of the civilized world, with its cosmopolitan population and its position as the political, commercial and cultural center whose influence reached the ends of the then known world. So, even though he was not the founder of the Church of Rome, Saint Paul had heard of the moral and disciplinary matters mainly concerning clean and unclean food, and fasting, which the Romans were facing. So he writes to strengthen their faith.

He is writing to Christians who had been preached to and converted by others – undoubtedly Saint Peter and some of the earliest converts. He is planning his journey as far west as Spain and would like the Christians of Rome to help him perhaps with money and letters of introduction (Rom 15:24). But what he specially wants to do is strengthen their faith (Rom 1: 11-12; 15-32).

In the passage selected for our meditation, Saint Paul vividly describes the full extent of the love of God the Father, who not only listens to our prayers but anticipates all our needs. God is with us, he is always by our side. This is a cry expressing confidence and optimism, despite our personal state of sin for Christ did not come for the righteous but for sinners (Mk 2:17).

Those who are chosen by God will emerge from all attacks victorious. They will do so not through their own efforts but by virtue of the help they receive from him who has loved them from all eternity and who does not hesitate to sacrifice his own Son for their salvation. Nothing that happens can separate us from God because a Christian, who is faithful to the laws of God has nothing to fear because, as the Psalmist says, “clothed in grace, we can cross mountains.”

As Saint Jose Maria Escriva de Ballaguer, the founder of the Opus Dei Movement, says: “The world won’t harm you unless you want it to. No enemy of our soul can do anything if we don’t consent. And we won’t consent, with the grace of God and the protection of our Mother in heaven.” Let us pray for the grace to cling to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in good as well as in bad times because he gave his life to save us from death. Amen.

Gospel: Mark 9: 2-10.

Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone by themselves. There in their presence he was transfigured: his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter spoke to Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said “it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say; they were so frightened. And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a voice from the cloud, “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.” Then suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them anymore but only Jesus. As they came down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves they discussed what “rising from the dead” could mean.

V/ The Gospel of the Lord.

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Comment

Shortly before this passage of the Transfiguration, Jesus has been telling his disciples of his impending passion, death and resurrection. This is strange talk to his disciples who have been expecting a nationalistic and triumphant Messiah to free Israel from Roman domination. This is to come out clearly in the regrets his two dejected companions are to express later as they unknowingly accompany him on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:21). Even his apostles themselves are already arguing among themselves as to who will take what position when the kingdom of Israel is restored. That is why they are scandalized that Christ is telling them of suffering and dying and rising again from the dead (Mt 16:21). It is therefore understandable that Peter, their leader, would take him aside and rebuke him saying “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you” (Mt 16:22).

Christ’s reaction to Peter’s intervention further alarms his followers. He tells Peter “Get behind me, Satan. You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do” (Mt 16: 23). It is this same Peter he has just elevated to the rank of the leader of his team, calling him a rock on which he will build his church (Mt 16: 18). His disciples are therefore understandably confused and totally dejected.

That is when he decides to take the three apostles he specially loves, Peter, James and John, with him away from the others to the mountain. These three are also with him when he raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mk 5:37) and they will also be closest to him during his agony at Gethsemane (Mk 14:33; Mt 17: 1-13). There, on the mountain, the evangelists tell us, “he was transfigured before them, and his garments became glistening, intensely white such as no fuller on earth could bleach them”.

The apostles are not only stunned by the Jesus’ sudden change of appearance, but also by the presence of Elijah and Moses, who are talking with Jesus. Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets but Jesus surpasses both of them. The Father’s voice from heaven “This is my Son, the beloved” reassures Jesus of his Father’s love. Throughout his passion and death, Jesus will base his trust in his Father’s love.

What is the significance of the Transfiguration? It shows that Jesus’ decision to go to Jerusalem and to his death – a decision his disciples cannot understand – is in conformity with his Father’s will. “Father,” he says, “into thy hands, I commend my spirit”.

The Transfiguration also changes the apostle’s outlook. They cannot understand Jesus now but they will later. Several years later, Saint Peter will recall that moment in all its clarity. “And the voice was borne to him by the Majestic glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’, we heard his voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1: 17-18). The flash of God’s glory transports the apostles into a state of immense happiness. Peter wants to make the moment last longer and so he proposes that they build three tents to house Elijah, Moses and Jesus.

God’s voice in the cloud declaring Jesus his Son in whom he is well pleased is not only addressed to the three stunned apostles. It is still heard from age to age through the teachings of Christ’s church, which, as Saint John Paul II once said: “continually seeks ways of bringing this mystery of her Master and Lord to humanity – to the peoples, the nations, the succeeding generations, and every individual human being.”

Thus, the Transfiguration is in some way an anticipation not only of Christ’s glorification but also of ours. As Saint Paul says, “it is the same Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8: 16-17).

During this Lenten season, brothers and sisters, let us thank God who has called us to be happy with him. That God loves us and calls us to happiness through the transfiguration is the Good News to share with all around us today. We make our prayers through Christ our Lord. Amen.